1st Team Water Polo vs Northwood : Match Report
Once again we started extremely well and once again we allowed our concentration to lapse at vital stages. At the end of the first quarter we led 2-1 with a well taken goal from Khan from a snap long distance shot and a good persevering follow-up shot by Naicker off a save by the opposing goalkeeper.
The second chukka was a real “ding-dong” affair with a great deal of action by both teams and some superb saves by goalkeeper Stroh. For half the quarter there were no goals but Northwood scored two quick goals in succession to go 2-3 up. We clawed one back with a well-taken shot by Naicker to level things again, but within seconds of the restart our opponents once again took the lead at 3-4. There had been frenetic action with three goals being scored in the space of forty-five seconds of play. With the clock running down the last minute we scored the equalizing goal through sheer hard work and perseverance by hole-man Andreas Kyprou and we went into the half-time break deservedly level 4-4.
The start of the second half saw some unfortunate confusion. We had had a player excluded in the last seconds of the game and so should have started the next quarter a man down for ten seconds.
The Northwood coach had indicated that should they win the ball, he wanted a time-out to take advantage of the man up situation. The teams lined up for the start – DHS had someone in the water in the exclusion zone – the referee controlling that side started the game – and all six School players entered the playing area!! The referees immediately awarded a penalty for us having an illegal player in the water. Despite the vehement protest of Coach Lawson the penalty stood and we were 4-5 down. This incident seemed to unsettle our players and we became disjointed and rudderless for a while which enabled Northwood to score three unanswered goals to be 4-8 up with 12 seconds left on the clock. Never-say-die hole-man Kyprou scored a great goal right at the end of the chukka to narrow the gap 5-8.
The fact of having a depleted bench with only three substitutes now began to take its toll and our tiring team began to lose concentration and we began to allow goals on the counter-attacks mounted by Northwood with regular monotony. We leaked three goals in the space of a minute to find ourselves 5-11 down. Some harsh words from Coach Lawson saw our team dig deep into their physical reserves and Naicker pulled one back for us with a good goal to make it 11-6. We had hopes of a dramatic comeback but it was not to be and we leaked two more goals for the final tally to be 6-13. Beaten but by no means disgraced.
Alan Burt
M-i-C : Water Polo
1st XI Cricket vs Northwood : Match Report
All set up for the last fixture for the term on Theobald Oval, we welcomed Northwood School. A declaration cricket match was upon us, the weather was pleasant and everything was set for a great day of cricket.
Into the toss we went; Northwood elected to bat first. We wanted to bowl first so this worked out fine for both teams.
As always we pride ourselves with the new ball, and we always want to make inroads with our new ball bowlers. Joshua Stride delivered the goods ones with 2 wickets in his first 6 overs going for 15 runs. He then had pains in his back and we decided that he mustn’t bowl again in the match. Safwaan Barradeen, who then had to head the attack, did a splendid job with figures of 12 overs 3 wickets 28 runs.
The old saying “catches win matches” came and paid us a visit as we dropped the same batter twice before he got to 30 and we went on get a well played 67.
We bowled Northwood out for 182, a total that is always tricky to chase down as one is never sure of how to approach the innings.
The chase was made tough by our batsman as 6 of them got to 20 and went out before 30. Basically get yourself in then throw your wicket away. The momentum throughout the second innings shifted from team to team.
The game got very intense when we needed 35 runs to win with 3 wickets in hand and 10 overs to go in the day. In trying to get those runs we lost 2 wickets. Going into the last 3 overs we were 9 wickets down. Martin Mugoni and Joshua Stride were the 2 batsmen out in the middle. They both showed a lot of determination and fight. It wasn’t easy out there, the light wasn’t great but those two boys weren’t fazed, they had a job to do and they did it well.
The game ended as a draw as we ended up on 160/9. Against a very aggressive Northwood bowling attack this DHS team stood large and stood tall and faced up to the music.
A great game of cricket played by both sides. Well done to both schools.
Oss Gcilitshana
1st XI Head Coach/M-i-C of Cricket
Basketball vs Northwood : 1st Team Match Report
DHS hosted Northwood in their last match of the season. DHS won the jump ball and from word go this was going to be a long day in the office for the boys in terms of the game. Northwood were playing a zone defense that was identified by the point guard; in addition the opposition were all right handed. DHS were up to their defense, playing man to man, full court press. Northwood couldn’t cope with the pressure as they began making mistake after mistake and DHS capitalized on their opposition’s mistakes. The Coach from Northwood called a time out and in an effort to regroup his troops they tried minimizing their mistakes.
The 1st quarter ended with DHS leading 15-2. From noticing that the opposition couldn’t cope with our pace from defense, we had to play a structured game on offense, setting out plays where teams started driving, kicking the ball out for shooters. The opposition couldn’t find answers on how to guard DHS as they were too hard to be handled on both ends of the court.
Final Score: 74-31
This was the last game for 6 matrics. Well done boys.
Letha Zulu
1st Team Coach/M-i-C : Basketball
Thank you to Tim Whitfield for the photographs: www.timspix.wordpress.com
